Meditation for stress and breast cancer treatment

Years ago I discovered meditation as a method to reduce stress. I always thought there was some secret to it involving Far Eastern chants and pretzel poses. I actually fell into a method of meditation that worked for me and now describe it as a place in your mind to retreat to for peace and calm. It started by realizing that I needed to get away but didn’t have the means or resources to do that. So I took a few moments one morning to imagine a place that would provide complete calm away from my world. See, it doesn’t sound eerie or bizarre in any way! The place that came to me was a room overlooking the ocean with two balcony doors wide open to the outside with gauze curtain panels blowing in the breeze. The best part about my envisioned room was that the only furniture in the room was a bed off to the side of one door dressed only in clean, crisp, cool, white sheets. When things get too hectic, I take a moment to imagine my room and crawl between those exquisite sheets to rest.

Imagining my room helped me settle into the hours of infusion during my chemotherapy appointments. Eventually I would wonder out onto the balcony and overlook the ocean, close my eyes and let the salty wind bathe me; I could really feel it. These sessions would only take a few moments, but they helped me to relax and aided me in not feeling sick or overwhelmed by the ongoing assault on my body from chemotherapy. I have also used moments visiting my room to help me get calm before surgery.

I once had a discussion about finding a place to de-stress in your mind with a young man at a meeting for entrepreneurs. He was struggling to build a business so he was a little skeptical at first when I told him about this technique, but after I described my secret place he looked at me wistfully and asked if I minded if he used the same place for himself. Perhaps your place is on a mountain top, or beside a stream.

Another method I like to use is to sit calmly, close my eyes and repeat a precious scripture from the bible a couple of times until I sense God’s peace. The bible tells us that Jesus meditated. Meditating is different for everyone. Yes, some people chant and some listen to their breathing. The idea is to find a way to detach from the stress and your surroundings to allow your body to be calm and relax. People actually control their blood pressure this way. So as mental or spiritual as it sounds, meditating is a method to minister a need for peace to your body.

Now that summer is upon us I actually just get away to my backyard under a tree or with my face to the sun. I don’t have to worry though; my place by the ocean will always be there for me.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Kathy-Ellen Kups, RN

Kathy-Ellen is a Registered Nurse living in Michigan. In 2003, Kathy-Ellen was diagnosed with stage three breast cancer. She was cancer-free from April 2004 until December of 2013 when it was discovered that...read more